


Bad Signs And Bro Time

by menhir



Series: Winter Stars and Iron [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Tony Stark, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pining, Rhodey Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 08:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8364886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/menhir/pseuds/menhir
Summary: “Tony," Rhodey said, exasperated, "I told you it was a bad idea to play house with Barnes. You’re a good guy, but you fall too hard and too fast. Don’t do this to yourself. It’s not real.”“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Tony interrupted. “It is real, Rhodey. And I can—well, no, I can’t prove it. But I swear to god I’m not making it up.”“So, what? You think he’s actually your soulmate?” Rhodey scoffed.  “No,” Tony said weakly. The next words were barely audible and Tony winced when he said them. “There’s Steve, too.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot picks up after chapter six of [Nowhere To Go But Home](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6381397/chapters/14613505) and after [Reaching Out And Falling In](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7904980). Spoilers if you haven't read the main fic and intend to.
> 
> Steve and Bucky are soulmates connected by a psychic bond. Tony's harboring them from SHIELD by pretending to be Bucky's soulmate. He's also trying to sort out a bioengineered infection he's been injected with.

The streets below the second story of Café Claritas were teeming. In and of itself, that wasn’t unusual. It was the city and there were always people. The shine of camera lenses amidst the early morning crowds was what had Rhodey worried. The cold, iridescent eyes had been following him since he left the tower. 

Media frenzy was usually Tony’s world, not his. 

There were throngs of paparazzi camped outside the tower, waiting for a glimpse of Tony Stark and his infamous new soulmate, the Winter Soldier; but Tony and Barnes were buried under more layers of security than the US nuclear codes. The more clever and desperate gossip reporters knew they’d never catch a break by dogging the tower—so instead they’d followed the scent to Tony’s nearest and dearest, hoping for scraps.

Rhodey shut the blinds before he pulled up a seat across from Pepper. 

“If this is your usual table,” he said, “you might need to change that after today.” 

“I have a feeling a lot of things are going to change after today,” Pepper said. Her hair and clothes were immaculate as always. She wasn’t one to fidget, but her posture was rigid and her expression was distant. Her coffee steamed, neglected, on the table. That was as bad a sign as any. 

Rhodey leaned in on his elbows. “How can I help, Pepper?” 

She caught the eye of one of her nearby bodyguards. Stark Industries security had come with her and cleared the floor. It wasn’t standard protocol to follow the CEO on private errands, but if the cameras hounding Rhodey were any indication, she needed the added protection. The world at large was itching for the ex’s reaction to Tony Stark’s new bonding. They wanted her to dish the details. As it was, several hulking brutes with prominent badges were guarding the staircase down to the first floor, where the cafe registers were going nonstop along with the murmur of music and conversation.

“Can you give us a minute?” she asked, and the guards ducked down the staircase, just out of sight. 

“They’re big,” Rhodey noted.

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Happy’s been worried.”

Rhodey chuckled. Happy had always taken his work a little too seriously; but in this case Rhodey approved. “So why the not-so-secret meeting? Why here?”

“Tony,” she said bluntly.

“I should have guessed.”

“And some nostalgia, I suppose.” Pepper reached for her drink, holding it close to her chest. “When Tony and I broke up, I thought I’d have to twist his arm to get him to come here. He’d dug himself into the lab and I thought he’d never speak to me again. I left him messages for weeks and he didn’t answer a single one. But when I told him to come here, he showed up, right on time, right where I asked. He hadn’t showered or slept, but he flopped down where you’re siting now and he never missed Monday coffee after that.”

“Until Barnes,” Rhodey guessed.

Pepper sighed and smiled tightly. “New soulmates need a chance to bond. It’s expected. But from what I can tell, Tony’s barely focused on his soulmate. He put a hole in the tower and he won’t tell me why. He all but refused to do the interview the other day. Friday told me he’s been spending most of his time in his lab, alone, and Tony’s since blocked me from getting further updates. I don’t know what’s going on, but something isn’t right.”

Rhodey put on his poker face.

“Tony doesn’t trust me after everything that happened with Happy,” Pepper said. “I don’t blame him; but I’m honestly trying to help. You’re with them in the tower, so I’m guessing you already know what’s going on. All I want to know is: is there anything you can tell me?” 

Rhodey sat back in his seat, fingers drumming against the table. He didn’t want to lie to Pepper. Tony should have told her from the get-go that the soul bonding was a hoax. She would have been a stronger ally if she’d had all the information; but one of Tony’s many bad habits was keeping secrets he didn’t need to keep. Why Rhodey’s best friend insisted on approaching problems at odd angles instead of facing them directly, Rhodey would never know. (Maybe it’s what made Tony the infuriating genius he was.) But it also wasn’t Rhodey’s place to out the false relationship—especially not in public, where anyone could be listening, and particularly when outing them might mean endangering Rhodey’s captain and the stability of the Avengers as a whole. Barnes might not have been Tony’s soulmate, but he _was_ Steve’s. And that by itself was messy for even more complicated reasons. 

“I wish I could help,” he said. “I really do. My hands are tied.”

Pepper studied him shrewdly. She understood what he meant. “All right,” she said. “But if something changes, could you please let me know? Tell Tony I’m willing to help.”

“I think he knows, Pepper,” Rhodey said. “He just can’t accept it right now. You know how he is. Better than most. He’ll get there.”

Pepper gave him a doubtful look, but let the matter drop. 

They chatted for a time and as they readied to leave, security escorted in one of the baristas with a drink prepped to go. Pepper thanked him and passed the cup on to Rhodey. 

“For Tony,” she said. “It’s his usual.” Despite her own soul bonding, Pepper still cared about Tony in all the little ways she could. After all, they’d spent years together. 

Rhodey casually saluted with the cup. “I’ll tell him you say hi.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

On impulse, Rhodey pulled her in for a one-armed hug before they parted ways. “He’s going to be all right,” he said. “I promise.”

 

+

 

Really, Rhodey knew better than to make promises he couldn’t keep. But a lifetime of covering for Tony’s sorry ass was hard to shake. And Rhodey wanted to believe it was the truth. Tony had a way of pulling miracles out of thin air, and he would this time, too. 

Rhodey’s phone buzzed as he stepped out of the cafe into the alley. 

Good ol’ Cap. _Have you seen Tony?_

Rhodey thumbed a quick reply, checking to make sure the paparazzi hadn’t found his exit. _On my way to see him now._ He turned and took quick, direct strides to the street. 

Another buzz. _I’ll need a report._

Rhodey frowned. That looked suspiciously like orders. 

 _That official?_ he asked. 

_Yes._

_Something you want to tell me?_

_We’ll talk later._

Right. Not for the first time Rhodey wondered if Steve got off on being mysterious and demanding. 

Although maybe that wasn’t fair. Steve was Rhodey’s commanding officer now, a transition he was still adjusting to. 

Rhodey shook his head. A lifetime of military service and he was back to taking orders from a captain. Steve was qualified, even if he didn’t _technically_ have the years and rank, but sometimes Rhodey had a hard time taking the man in stride. If it wasn’t for Tony, if it wasn’t for the necessity of their work as Avengers, Rhodey wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to handle the new team dynamics.  

But with aliens falling out of the sky, the growing threat of powered individuals, and ruthless killers with access to deadly super serums (Killian sprang to mind), the military simply wasn’t equipped to handle that level of threat by itself. For Rhodey, becoming an Avenger was a natural next step. 

Even if it meant he got stuck in the middle in situations like this. 

Anyway, Tony was Rhodey’s friend first and his teammate second (and technically he wasn’t even a teammate anymore. Iron Man had bowed out of the Avengers after Ultron). Rhodey’d check on the man and if there was something to tell Steve, Rhodey would tell him if and only if it was appropriate. If Rhodey had to fight Steve on it, so be it.

Rhodey threaded his way back to the tower in the rising heat of late morning, paparazzi straggling after him as he went. So much for avoiding them. The cameras were tenacious, and the questions hurled at him were desperate and reaching. 

“Colonel Rhodes, what can you tell us about the attack on the tower?”

“When can we expect a public appearance from Mr. Stark and Mr. Barnes?”

“Does Tony have reservations about bonding with the infamous Winter Soldier?”

“Is Tony Stark staging this soulmate bonding to bolster public opinion after the disaster in Sokovia and his subsequent breakup with Ms. Potts?”

Damn. That last one hit too close to home. But Rhodey let the waves of questions break around him ineffectually. With a nod to the nearest officers, he slipped past the security barricades outside the tower. Next time he’d fly the suit where he needed to go. He might draw extra attention wherever he landed, but at least he’d be harder to follow. 

He made his way through layers of SI security and SHIELD agents until he was finally outside the door to Tony’s lab. He tried his old passcode without effect and then buzzed the intercom. There was a beep and Friday indicated, “Hello, Colonel Rhodes. Mr. Stark is listening. Please go ahead.” 

“Your AI has better manners than you, Tony," Rhodey said. “Pepper sent me with coffee. If I have to leave it outside the door, she’s going to be upset.”

The intercom fuzzed and clicked through. “I’m getting real tired of emotional blackmail, honeybear.”

“Then let me in.” 

Tony gave a sigh and the door slid open. 

The lab was dark. The primary lights were cold and the monitors had been dimmed to their lowest brightness. Tony was perched on a stool in front of a series of screens—all of them turned to screensaver—and he made no move to greet Rhodey when he entered.

So Tony was in a mood. All right. Rhodey could deal with that.

DUM-E rolled up and twisted his claws curiously and Rhodey held the paper coffee cup out of reach to keep the bot from snatching it.

“Hey, Tone, mind if I turn on some lights in here?” Rhodey asked. “I can barely see.”

Tony fidgeted with a stray chunk of metal—a redundant part for the Iron Man suit, Rhodey guessed—his motions jerky and aimless. He didn’t answer. 

Rhodey rolled his eyes and asked Friday to turn up the lights, but to keep them soft. She obliged and brought them up slow, with plenty of time to adjust. Tony still shut his eyes, wincing away from the brightness. 

All right. So Tony wasn’t just brooding. He was hurting, too. Rhodey motioned for Friday to dim the lights just a fraction more. 

“You remember you’re supposed to be playing soulmate to a former assassin upstairs? It’s kind of a big deal,” Rhodey said. No sense tiptoeing around the issue. “Care to tell me what you’re doing down here all by yourself?”  

Tony’s laugh was little more than a breath of air. “Contemplating mortality and the nature of the universe,” he said. “Nothing big.”

“Right.” Rhodey set the coffee cup on the lab table near Tony’s elbow. “That’s from Pepper.”

Tony ducked his head and barely covered the trembling of his hands as he worked at the part again, ignoring the gift.

“Tony.” Rhodey reached for Tony’s shoulder and Tony flinched away, grimacing as he did. 

“Sorry,” Tony blurted, “I’m just. Not feeling the warm fuzzies right now, okay?”

“Fine,” Rhodey said, “but you know I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

Tony stayed mulishly silent.

“I can stand here all day. You know I can.” 

Tony set the spare part on the table next to the coffee with a dull clank. “Remember that frat party in undergrad?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” Rhodey replied cautiously.

“Stone’s kegger? We crashed it and I stole his date.”

“Right, and you promptly fell in love and made me double check you for soul marks for a week afterward.”

“Right.” Tony locked his eyes on the floor, gaze distant. “So. Yeah.” He looked back up at Rhodey, raising his eyebrows significantly, pleading with his friend to understand.

Well, they were platonic life partners for a reason. They knew each other better than an old married couple at this point. “Oh, shit,” Rhodey said, exasperated. “ _Tony,_ I told you it was a bad idea to play house with Barnes. You’re a good guy, but you fall too hard and too fast. Don’t do this to yourself. It’s not real.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Tony interrupted. “It is real, Rhodey. And I can—well, no, I can’t prove it. But I swear to god I’m not making it up.”

“So, what? You think he’s actually your soulmate?” Rhodey scoffed.  

“No,” Tony said weakly. The next words were barely audible and Tony winced when he said them. “There’s Steve, too.” 

“You,” Rhodey faltered, “you think they’re _both_ your soulmate?” Rhodey ran his hand over his face. “Jesus Christ, Tony. How far gone are you?” 

“Yeah, I get it.” Tony laughed, high pitched and exhausted, rubbing his forehead. “Believe me, I get it.” 

“Listen. You’ve been obsessed with soulmates since you were a kid,” Rhodey said. “I don’t know if that’s you wanting to make up for your mom and Howard or because you’re determined to follow in Jarvis and Anna’s footsteps—”

“Why can’t it just be about love?” Tony argued. “You know, people caring about each other, being there for each other, sharing their lives. It’s not such a radical idea, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” Rhodey said, patient but stern, “but Barnes and Rogers are already a bonded pair. You don’t magically get to be part of someone else’s soul bond just because you’re attracted to them. The real world doesn’t work that way.”

“But it could,” Tony said, eyes alight. “Think about it. We don’t really know the rules when it comes to super-powered soul bonds. Regular soulmates share an energetic connection. Decades of research and that's all we know. Who’s to say what triggers it? Or when? Or what forms it can take? Steve and James—if what they’ve told us is true, their soul bond was already an anomaly to start with. Think about that. What if the experimentation they went through altered their connection even further, Rhodey? What if, to stabilize the bond, they need a third?”

“Fuck, Tony, you’re talking like this is something real. No one’s ever heard of a three-person bond.”

“That doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

“Tony, you’re setting yourself up for a world of heartbreak here,” Rhodey said. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I’m trying to look out for you here. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m already hurt.” The admission creased Tony’s face with a disarming vulnerability—too much like his expression after Rhodey had found him in Afghanistan. Tony looked away quickly, reaching out to pat U as the bot came up to nudge under his arm. “I did the reasonable thing, honeybear. I settled down with a perfect, gorgeous woman. We weren’t soulmates, but we loved each other and I was in it for the long haul. And it still fell apart.”

“I know,” Rhodey said gently, “and I’m sorry, but you’re grasping at straws here. Rogers and Barnes are head over heels for each other, Tony. You can’t get in the middle of that and you know it.”

The side of Tony’s mouth quirked humorlessly. “They already offered.”

“Excuse me?” Rhodey startled. “They did _what?_ You’ve got to be kidding me. _That’s_ what happened at breakfast the other day?”

“Well, sort of,” Tony hedged. “Yes. Well, no,” he said. “There was touching.” 

Rhodey’s eyes widened and then narrowed dangerously. “I’m going to kill them.” 

“No, not like that,” Tony rushed to correct himself. He gestured to his head. “The headache. Barnes was trying to help with that massage and, well, one thing led to another.” 

“So you’re telling me they’re the ones who planted this three-person-soul-bond idea in your head.” Rhodey folded his arms.

“ _They didn’t take advantage of me,_ Rhodey, okay? Will you please focus and stop planning ways to hide the bodies?” Tony huffed. “There was the massage. I liked it a little too much. You _know_ how I am. They said they were interested. I told them no. That was the end of it.”

Well, that explained why the captain had dragged the whole team upstate immediately afterward. Rejection always went down better with distance. Maybe the guy was human after all. 

“Except?” Rhodey prompted.

“Except,” Tony said slowly, swiveling slightly in his seat, “I kissed Steve last night.”

Rhodey groaned. And _that_ explained the captain wanting a heart-to-heart with Rhodey this morning.

“Look, it’s a sickness,” Tony said. “I can’t get them out of my head. I—literally—it feels like…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I don’t know what it feels like. My head hurts the more I try to think about it.” Tony raked his fingers through his hair, pressing into his scalp and wincing. “I had a dream—or maybe I’m hallucinating, I don’t know—but whatever it is, look, you don’t want the details. But I feel like I’ve barely got hold of them and I’m about to lose them if I can’t figure this out and I _can’t_ lose them, Rhodey.” Tony dragged his hands down his face. 

Hallucinations? That triggered immediate alarm bells. Tony had a bad history with mind altering substances. That was a long time back, but once an addict—

Frowning, Rhodey peered at Tony’s eyes and reached to peel back an eyelid. 

Tony batted Rhodey’s hand away. “I’m not _on_ anything,” he hissed. 

Rhodey narrowed his eyes doubtfully. “You sure about that?”

“I’m not taking anything. Ask Friday. She’s been monitoring my vitals.” 

A quick check with the AI confirmed Tony was clean, but something still wasn’t adding up. “If it’s bothering you that much, why not talk to Rogers and Barnes? They approached you first. You’ve got nothing to lose.”

Tony licked his lower lip and bit it gently, laughing behind his teeth. “Been kinda busy for heartfelt confessions of romance.” 

“So what do you want from me?” Rhodey said. “If it’s my approval you’re looking for, you’re not going to get it. The situation we’re in with SHIELD and the media is messy enough without trying to secretly juggle _three_ of you in a secret relationship.” 

Tony flinched, but kept a rictus of a smile firmly in place. “I’m not asking for anything from you,” he said. “You’re the one who came in here asking for a tête-à-tête.”

“Don’t be like that,” Rhodey said.

Tony picked up the coffee and took a gulp, swallowing hard on the oversized mouthful. “Great chat, by the way,” Tony said. “Tell Pep thanks for the coffee. You’re dismissed, Colonel.” 

Rhodey shook his head, pinching between his eyebrows. “Tony.” 

“What?”

“You want me to check? Is that it?”

Tony’s mouth pressed together in a firm line.

“Is that why you brought up stealing Stone’s date?”

Tony took another drink, meeker this time, considering before he swallowed. “I’ve got Friday running regular soul mark scans, but… her parameters could use some calibrating.”

“Calibration, huh?” Rhodey’s mouth quirked. 

Tony hummed, running his thumbs along the outside of his cup. “If you can confirm there aren’t any marks,” Tony said as he pulled up a screen and tapped in a few commands, “I’ll know for sure I can trust the program.”

“Just because I check now, doesn’t guarantee you didn’t miss something earlier.”

“I know how a soulmate rendezvous works,” Tony grumbled. He hopped down from the stool and Rhodey steadied him as Tony wobbled on his feet and squeezed his eyes shut. After a moment, Tony found his equilibrium.

“Nothing to drink, huh?” Rhodey prodded.

Tony ignored him and set his coffee back on the table. He struggled out of his shirt, mussing his hair. 

“I’m gonna need the lights up more than this, Tone,” Rhodey said. 

“Fine,” Tony said. “Just do it.” He slipped out of his jeans and socks and stood with his arms out.

“I’m not checking under the underwear,” Rhodey insisted. “I don’t get paid enough for that.”

“I can up your pay grade.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t just hear you seriously offer to pay me for being your friend,” Rhodey said. “And you’re on your own with the underwear. I have my limits.” 

“But you’ve seen me naked.” 

“Yeah, and I didn’t like it then, either.” 

“You really know how to stroke a guy’s ego.”

“There’s not going to be any stroking here, I promise you.” 

“Killjoy.”

“Deal with it.”

Rhodey came close and started by systematically sweeping his fingers through Tony’s hair, searching for any telltale marks that might be obscured. “You know it’s stuff like this that made everyone think we were dating in college.”

Tony grinned and leaned into the touch coyly. “I could only hope to do half as well as you, honeybear.” 

“Yeah, well, two super soldiers is a pretty good start.” 

Tony chuckled weakly and then gasped in pain as Rhodey touched the back of his neck.

“Shit, Tony,” Rhodey said. He pulled his hand away, turning Tony by the shoulder to get a better look. There was redness at the back of Tony’s neck. The skin was puckered and irritated with patches of intermittent swelling and indentation going down his spine. He was starting to bruise, like something was literally eating at him from the inside out. “What the hell is this?” He looked around the lab for some clue—the hidden screens, the scattered testing equipment on the lab table, a closed case on a nearby cart. Tony wasn’t just having a headache, this was something serious. It was the palladium core all over again, except this time Tony didn't have the arc reactor buried in his chest. What was happening?

"Attack at the gala, kidnapping, unidentified injection, _blah, blah, blah,_ " Tony said, his voice rough. "It’s not important. Don’t worry. I’ve got it handled.”

“Like hell you do. Have you _seen_ this?” 

“If you’re worried I’m going to go on a bender and throw an end of the world party—” Tony looked at his friend with tired eyes, “well, fair enough, I might.” 

“You’re dying, _again_ ,” Rhodey said, cold and furious, “and your priority is a soul mark? I don’t believe this.” 

“I need to know, Rhodey,” Tony pleaded. “If you'll just look—whatever you tell me, I’ll roll with it.” 

“Why the hell don’t you say something when you’re hurt?” Rhodey wasn’t really expecting an answer, and Tony didn’t give him one. “You know your friends care about you. We’d help you if you’d actually tell us what’s going on.” 

He took his time to lecture as he checked Tony for marks—lifting Tony’s arms and checking his legs, toes, and the bottoms of his feet. It wasn’t dignified. Not in the slightest. But during those old college days sometimes Tony would get too fixated on the idea he was missing his soulmate rendezvous. When that happened, the only thing that would get him out of his own head was for Rhodey to confirm it actually _was_ all in his head. 

Rhodey stood up. “There aren’t any marks. Nothing but the one you put on yourself, I promise you. You've got more important things to worry about right now than whether or not you've got soulmates.” 

Rhodey helped Tony back into his clothes and back to the stool he’d been sitting on.

A tremor shivered visibly over Tony’s skin. 

Rhodey shook his head. “You say you’ve got it figured out? Is that true?” 

“Almost,” Tony said wearily. “Just a few more tests to run before the treatment is ready.” 

“And what exactly is this treatment?”

“Nothing special.” 

“Tony, _what is it?”_ Rhodey was seriously losing his patience with the long-suffering, enigmatic act. “I’m going to find out, whether you want me to or not. You might as well tell me.” 

“You won’t like it.”

“I didn’t think I would.”

“Extremis.” 

Rhodey paused for half a beat. “You mean that fire-breathing concoction Killian used? The one that nearly blew up Happy and Pepper?” 

“That’s the one.”

It was so ridiculously insane Rhodey couldn’t even question it. For a split second he was terrified, and he wanted to be angry. He really did. Bizarrely, though, Tony’s admission dissolved the most intense reactions into relief. The risking-it-all-on-a-dare-Tony was the Tony Rhodey knew best and the one he implicitly trusted. 

And at least Tony was still himself, and at least Tony was being honest with him now. 

“The core function of Extremis is to purge and rejuvenate,” Tony said. He pulled up the screens for Rhodey to see. “Pepper fell hundreds of feet and Extremis kept her alive. If it can bring her back from that, it can fix my damage and eradicate what’s left of the injection in my system, too.” 

“And it might blow you up.”

“Most of my experiments have at least a thirty percent chance of doing that anyway.”

It was risky—but if anyone could figure out how to stabilize the formula, it would be Tony. He was the guy who had a flying metal suit of armor, after all. He’d survived wormholes and nuclear weapons and aliens and terrorists. He’d survived years with shrapnel trying to burrow into his heart. He could survive this.

“Okay, what do you need me to do?”

“I need you not to tell the rest of the team what I’m doing.” Tony held up a hand so he could continue. “They’re going to want to stop me. If they do, Rhodey, I’m dead for sure.” 

And that was it. That was the reason why Tony was isolating himself from the team, especially Rogers and Barnes. The moment they knew what was up, they’d try to stop him, for sure.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I can’t make any promises,” Rhodey said. “If you blow yourself up—besides the fact I’ll be pissed as hell at you—the team will have nothing left between us and SHIELD. They’ll come after Barnes and I guarantee you Rogers is willing to go rogue for him. It’ll shatter the Avengers completely. They have a right to know and prepare for what’s coming.” 

Tony drummed his fingers on his chest, where the arc reactor once used to be. “Give me twenty-four hours?”

Rhodey considered and then nodded. “Twenty-four hours.”

 

+

 

Rhodey exited the lab and pulled out his phone. Another text from the captain was waiting in his inbox. He wanted Rhodey to come up for an immediate report. 

Instead Rhodey opened a new message to Pepper. _We’ve got a situation._

**Author's Note:**

> We'll return to Tony's POV and pick up with some major developments in chapter seven of [Nowhere To Go But Home](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6381397/chapters/14613505)! :)
> 
> Find fic updates and progress reports for this series under [this tag](http://explodingcrenelation.tumblr.com/tagged/my-fanfic) on Tumblr :)


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